EurasiaNet.org - David Trillinghttp://www.eurasianet.org/taxonomy/term/2359/0
enKyrgyzstan: In Radioactive Hotspot, Residents Fearful and Uninformed http://www.eurasianet.org/node/74366
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<p>In a pharmacy on the ground floor of Mailuu-Suu’s central hospital, Ainagul Parpibaeva draws a hand across her throat to gesture “enough.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/74366" target="_blank">read more</a></p>David TrillingKyrgyzstanTajikistanUzbekistanEurasiaNet's Weekly DigestHazardous WasteHealthFri, 24 Jul 2015 15:19:52 +000074366 at http://www.eurasianet.orgKyrgyzstan: Extremism Charges, Vague and Secretive, Open Door to Abuseshttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/74061
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<p>Imam Rashot Kamalov, a popular Muslim preacher in southern Kyrgyzstan, faces over 10 years in prison for a sermon he gave last summer. Much of the case against him hinges on the words of a frequent witness for the state, a psychologist who speaks neither of the languages used in the sermon but claims a good feel for the “hidden meanings” of body language.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/74061" target="_blank">read more</a></p>David TrillingKyrgyzstanRussiaTajikistanCorruptionHuman RightsIslamic ExtremismMon, 29 Jun 2015 12:46:21 +0000centralasia74061 at http://www.eurasianet.orgKyrgyzstan: Lawmakers Vote 90-2 for Antigay Lawhttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/74001
<p>Kyrgyzstan’s parliament on June 24 voted almost unanimously to approve a sweeping anti-gay bill that rights activists call an open invitation to attack gays and lesbians.<br />
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The bill is a tougher version of the so-called “gay propaganda” law Russian President Vladimir Putin signed in 2013. It mandates up to a year in prison for vaguely defined offences, such as forming a “positive attitude toward nontraditional sexual&nbsp;relations.”<br />
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Parliament must vote one more time, but the overwhelming support today – legislators voted 90-2 in favor, Kloop.kg <a href="http://kloop.kg/blog/2015/06/24/parlament-prinyal-antigejskij-zakon-vo-vtorom-chtenii/">reports</a> – suggests ratification is mere formality.<br />
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The Central Asian country decriminalized homosexuality in 1998, but violence against the community, including from the police, has “visibly increased” since the draft law was introduced last year, the Bishkek-based advocacy group Labrys has said.<br />
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“The law will effectively make it illegal to advocate for, provide information about, or organize a peaceful assembly” in support of gay, lesbian and transgender peoples’ rights, Labrys <a href="http://www.labrys.kg/en/news/full/681.html">said</a> in a February statement. “Even a public act of ‘coming out’ could be considered ‘propaganda’ and result in a prison term for up to a year.”<br />
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The bill <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/70531">passed</a> its first reading in October by a vote of 79 to 7 and then stalled over the winter as activists blasted its vague wording. But little had changed in the draft voted on today. After a third vote, it will go to President Almazbek Atambayev for his signature. He has said nothing to suggest he will use his veto.<br />
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<p><a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/74001" target="_blank">read more</a></p>David TrillingInside the CocoonHomophobiaKyrgyzstanRussiaWed, 24 Jun 2015 13:44:09 +0000centralasia74001 at http://www.eurasianet.orgTajikistan: How Donors Enable Massive Government Corruptionhttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/73956
<p>With the World Bank and Asian Development Bank soon to decide on Tajikistan’s request for $40 million more in budget support, they may wish to consider how past donations have benefited people close to the autocratic president while doing little to solve the long-term problems they were aiming to fix.<br />
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The two banks have spent over $140 million since 2009 topping up Tajikistan’s budget. But where does the money go? In 2012 alone the government spent $145 million recapitalizing a private bank that had handed out dozens of astronomically risky loans, many of them benefitting companies owned by relatives of the then-deputy prime minister, Muradali Alimardon&nbsp;(a man who had been promoted after admitting he’d lied to the IMF about the country’s reserves).<br />
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As I wrote for <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21654719-faced-signs-fraud-some-donors-look-other-way-papas-purse">The Economist</a> last week, the loans then disappeared but the directed lending continued. The bank is now deep in the red and Tajikistan’s whole banking sector looks on the edge of collapse.</p>
<p>Donors concede they struggle to piece together what is really going on. Their documents repeatedly describe Tajik bank statements as if they are purposely misleading. Internal memos say the banking sector’s structural problems stem from government resistance to reform, the lack of an independent central bank, ineffective internal controls, and ongoing fraud.<br />
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As Tajikistan’s banking crisis has snowballed over the last two or three years, donors have repeatedly seen their calls for reform ignored. So will they reward President Emomali Rahmon and his cronies for their persistent unwillingness to change the system?<br />
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<p><a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73956" target="_blank">read more</a></p>David TrillingInside the CocoonCorruptionEmomali RahmonForeign AidTajikistanMon, 22 Jun 2015 15:21:28 +0000centralasia73956 at http://www.eurasianet.orgTajikistan Drives Top Opposition Leader Into Exilehttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/73931
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<p>The leader of Tajikistan’s main genuine opposition party has told EurasiaNet.org that he is embarking on a period of self-imposed exile over fears that the government plans to jail him on bogus charges.<br />
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Islamic Renaissance Party (IRPT) leader Muhiddin Kabiri’s announcement comes amid a sustained campaign of intimidation against government critics.<br />
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<p><a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73931" target="_blank">read more</a></p>David TrillingRussiaTajikistanEmomali RahmonIslamOppositionThu, 18 Jun 2015 14:16:55 +0000centralasia73931 at http://www.eurasianet.orgKyrgyzstan Passes ‘Foreign Agents’ Bill in Preliminary Votehttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/73721
<p>After <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73681">stalling</a> for almost two years, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament has overwhelmingly passed a bill that will have a chilling effect on the Central Asian country’s vibrant civil society, if it becomes law. Local media <a href="http://kg.akipress.org/news:616396">reported</a> that legislators voted 83 to 23 on June 4 in favor of the “foreign agents” bill.<br />
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The bill – which must go through two more votes in parliament before landing on the president’s desk – is modeled on a similar law passed in Russia in 2012 that has been used to crack down on independent groups there. Kyrgyzstani rights activists <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71131">fear</a> that with Russia tightening its grip on the region, and lawmakers seemingly eager to please Moscow, the walls are fast closing in on free speech and other civil liberties.&nbsp;<br />
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The bill would require non-governmental organizations that receive money from abroad to register as “foreign agents” – a term widely associated with espionage in the former Soviet Union. It would also saddle NGOs with burdensome reporting requirements.<br />
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Human Rights Watch has said the bill “would be incompatible with the right to freedom of association” and has called on Kyrgyzstan’s parliament to reject it.<br />
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Lawmaker Nurkamil Madaliev, who co-sponsored the bill, told EurasiaNet.org last autumn that “not all the funds that finance NGO activities in Kyrgyzstan are aimed at creating a favorable situation.” He said his legislation would help protect an embattled nation from two existential threats: Islamic extremism funded by wealthy Gulf Arabs and the efforts by some Western-funded organizations to educate young Kyrgyz about gay rights and reproductive health.<br />
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<p><a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73721" target="_blank">read more</a></p>David TrillingInside the CocoonCivil SocietyKyrgyzstanRussiaThu, 04 Jun 2015 11:54:53 +0000centralasia73721 at http://www.eurasianet.orgTajikistan: Remittances to Plunge 40% – World Bankhttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/73591
<p>The World Bank has released yet another dire economic forecast for Tajikistan, predicting that the downturn in Russia and devalued ruble will push down labor migrants’ remittance transfers by 40 percent this year (in dollar terms). Unemployed young men are expected to return home in droves.</p>
<p>Job-poor Tajikistan is the world’s most <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72751">remittance-dependent</a> state; the migrants’ transfers account for the equivalent of <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73061">49 percent</a> of GDP. This year and next are going to be especially hard for the millions of Tajikistanis who have been lifted out of poverty in recent years by their relatives’ transfers from Russia.<br />
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Up to half of working-age men, most of them under 30, have sought work abroad, mostly in Russia. Twenty-five percent are expected to return home this year, putting enormous social pressures on one of Central Asia’s most fragile states.<br />
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Some key takeaways from the May 25 report:</p>
<blockquote><p>Declining remittances would significantly reduce disposable incomes in Tajikistan, forcing the poorest and the lower middle class to cut non-priority expenditures, including those on social services, such as education and health. Reintegration of returned migrants will be difficult given the limited jobs available, mismatched skills, and competition from youth entering the labor market. Returnees are likely to lack awareness of employment and business opportunities, and related legislation—employment information and services are both inadequate.</p>
</blockquote><p><a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73591" target="_blank">read more</a></p>David TrillingInside the CocoonLabor MigrationRussiaTajikistanTue, 26 May 2015 13:30:53 +0000centralasia73591 at http://www.eurasianet.orgTajikistan Closes Restive Tourist Region to Foreignershttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/73446
<p>Tajikistan has banned foreigners from visiting its vast mountainous Badakhshan Province, the country’s main draw for tourists and the scene of fighting between locals and government forces in <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/search/node/Badakhshan">2012</a> and <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68406">2014</a>, Asia-Plus <a href="http://www.news.tj/ru/news/inostrantsam-zapreshchen-vezd-v-gbao">reports</a>.<br />
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The government claims it has stopped issuing permits to foreigners to visit the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) due to fighting across the border in Afghanistan. The ban is a temporary measure done for the safety of tourists, said Rizo Nazarzoda of the Committee on Youth, Sports and Tourism.<br />
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Fighting has <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73291">intensified</a> in northern Afghanistan in recent months, but some analysts <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73201">question</a> the Tajik government’s claim that it poses an imminent threat to the Central Asian country. Indeed, some feel it offers cover for the government to <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73301">crack down</a> on Islamic worship and hype the threat of radicalism. &nbsp;<br />
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Dushanbe has tenuous control over GBAO, which comprises approximately 45 percent of Tajikistan’s territory but 3 percent of its population. The region is home to a disaffected ethnic and cultural minority that has been largely ignored by the government in the far-off capital. GBAO is also a hive of drug smuggling, which seems to have played a role in the recent violence.<br />
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<p><a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73446" target="_blank">read more</a></p>David TrillingInside the CocoonTajikistanTourismFri, 15 May 2015 06:49:34 +0000centralasia73446 at http://www.eurasianet.orgTajikistan: Boy Posing as President’s Son Collects $50,000 Kickbackhttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/73316
<p>A tenth-grader in Tajikistan’s capital has been detained after successfully soliciting a $50,000 bribe by impersonating the son of President Emomali Rahmon, Asia-Plus <a href="http://news.tj/ru/news/uchenik-10-klassa-predstavlyayas-synom-prezidenta-rakhmona-poluchil-50-tys">reports</a>.<br />
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Last August, according to the state anti-corruption agency, Khushdil Kurbonov and a relative took $50,000 from a man in exchange for promising him 0.3 hectares of land just outside the capital.<br />
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Kurbonov then called a local official in charge of the land and said he was Somoni Emomali (sometimes Somon), the president’s younger son, and instructed him to hand over the deed. The official did not believe Kurbonov.<br />
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Kurbonov attends the Dushanbe International School, according to Asia-Plus. In 2012 Tajik media reported that Somoni was attending the Dushanbe International School; he would now also be in the 10th grade.<br />
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The organization investigating the case, officially known as the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption, is headed by another of the president’s nine children, Rustam Emomali. Rustam <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72546">became head</a> of the agency in March. His appointment (by his father) increased long-standing concerns that official corruption investigations will steer far and wide of the long-ruling first family.<br />
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That someone thought he could pull this off by posing as the president’s son speaks volumes about how business works –&nbsp;and the first family is viewed – in Tajikistan, a country that ranks 152 out of 175 on Transparency International’s most recent Corruption Perceptions Index.&nbsp;</p>
David TrillingInside the CocoonCorruptionEmomali RahmonTajikistanWed, 06 May 2015 07:44:37 +0000centralasia73316 at http://www.eurasianet.orgTajikistan Mulls Ban on Muslim Nameshttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/73301
<p>In the ongoing battle that could be known as Tajikistan vs. Islam, Islam has taken some <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72816">low blows</a> lately: police nabbing bearded men on the street and submitting them to the razor; state television instructing viewers that women who wear hijab are prostitutes.<br />
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The latest target in the Muslim-majority country is Muslim-sounding names.<br />
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Under instructions from President Emomali Rahmon, Tajikistan’s rubberstamp parliament is considering a bill that would forbid the Justice Ministry from registering names it thinks sound too Arabic, the deputy head of the ministry’s Department of Civil Registry, Jaloliddin Rahimov, <a href="file://localhost/%E2%80%A2%09http/::www.interfax.by:news:world:1183150">told Interfax</a> on May 4.<br />
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"After the adoption of these regulations, the registry offices will not register names that are incorrect or alien to the local culture, including names denoting objects, flora and fauna, as well as names of Arabic origin," Interfax quotes Rahimov as saying.<br />
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Though the law would not apply to existing names, only to babies born after it is signed, Interfax suggests some parliamentarians are demanding everyone with an Arab-sounding name pick a new, more<a href="http://davidtrilling.com"> </a>Tajik-sounding one.<br />
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If parents cannot come up with a name on their own, the Justice Ministry is preparing a list of recommended names. It’s unclear if there will be a list for minorities, such as ethnic <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62952">Uzbeks</a>, who make up approximately 15 percent of the population.<br />
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<p><a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/73301" target="_blank">read more</a></p>David TrillingInside the CocoonEmomali RahmonIslamTajikistanTue, 05 May 2015 10:16:07 +0000centralasia73301 at http://www.eurasianet.org